Disclaimer: Naruto and every character of the Naruto universe belongs to Kishimoto Masashi and companies, I don't know.
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Original upload date: 26th of October 2013
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Chance for a Prophecy
Chapter 21. – Two foxes, a crow and a hawk
It had been six hours by the time the last of the medics left the caves together with the last remaining survivor of Orochimaru's hidden activity, and another six more since the meeting had been started. The council was silent, despite everyone's shock, storms of indignation, disbelief, denial and even utter confusion.
All of the members were dragged out from their beds, requesting their immediate presence. None of the clan leaders knew any details about what had exactly happened. Just the fact that someone had killed the legendary sannin. Most likely the one who had anonymously charged the blond time traveler was desperate enough to pull out this tantrum, without full knowledge of the situation.
Even the always loud Jiraiya sat quietly in one of the room's corners, his gaze locked in front of him unfocused. The rare occasions he regained his composure were when he glanced toward the blond teen from time to time, carefully avoiding Naruto's eyes.
Jiraiya locked his feelings behind a wall and he struggled between his own emotions, trying to deal with the lost and betrayal of his friend, and shifting between feelings of anger against his murderer and fear for Toroku's life.
But Naruto wouldn't be fooled by his teacher's calm shell. He knew perfectly well Orochimaru was one of Jiraiya's best friends. He was one of his precious people, and he killed him. It was him who killed him. Guilt rose inside his chest from time to time as he also snuck peeks at his godfather when he wouldn't notice.
Soon, the court wasn't about him, his treason or his murder. It was about Orochimaru and what he had done. At the beginning of the sudden trial most members sent warning glances toward him, even Inoichi eyed him more carefully than ever. Only the Nara clan head and Uchiha Fugaku watched him with calm, but still calculating eyes, sharingan flared into life from time to time. Even Kurama was dead silent, observing the situation without a word.
Naruto finished his report an hour ago, carefully leaving out some of the sensitive things. Like how Orochimaru had blackmailed him and exactly how he was able to win a battle against one of the Sannins. It was surprisingly easy even for him. He didn't have to face Jiraiya or Minato, it was Danzo who asked the questions, trying to twist everyone against him. Lying into the face of that bastard was miles easier than lying to his parent and godfather. The false words slipped from his lips so easily that even he was afraid of himself for a blink before he pushed the thought away.
He was adamant that it was the old War Hawk who informed the council. It was a desperate and rash decision from Danzo. Even if he don't know much about the man, he was perfectly sure that behind his calm and emotionless shell, he was screaming inside his head because of his own stupid and desperate step. But Naruto felt that he was missing something very important.
Naruto just half listened as a shinobi was listing the already processed evidence against the once cheered Sannin. The uncountable number of corpses they had found in another place in the middle of Konoha had been discovered thanks to the only survivor's statement. Somehow the small boy, Tenzo, was able to provide some important details pointing out the lab's whereabouts when Orochimaru moved him to his new "accommodation".
It was buried deep underground, in the middle of the ancient sewers of the oldest part of the town, hidden by several layers of seals tidily copied from the cave Naruto and Orochimaru had been fighting in. All over the place, bodies were strung up along the walls on wooden platforms, or lying around in the room ready for later use and investigation.
Naruto was glad Orochimaru dragged him to this cave and not to that place. He would definitely have gone berserk in the tunnels if he had to witness that sight. It was hard enough to see people behind bars, but seeing the corpses of innocent children...Naruto shook his head and glanced toward the small podium in the middle of the council chamber.
The shinobi continued listing evidence. They counted almost a hundred grown man and woman, and fifty five corpses of children altogether in the two hidden laboratories. They had found masses upon masses of notes, books and scrolls filled with information and complete descriptions of his experiments.
When the man finally finished his report, a medic stepped to the centre of the council room, to read out her own. Her voice faltered from time to time as she couldn't surpass some of her surfacing emotions.
From the dozen survivors they had found in the chambers, only one child's condition was stable, furthermore he was conscious and already questioned. The interrogator also verified what the evidence was so clearly screaming. It was Orochimaru's secret laboratory. The other survivors weren't as lucky. They had already lost four of the children in the last six hours and nothing gave the impression the adults would make it through the night. Silence fell when the medic finished her report and slowly moved to the background. It was now the lead interrogator's turn to step on the small podium.
"The child and the medic reports verified Namikaze Toroku's claims, that Orochimaru restrained him with his snake summons and he was dragged until they reached the main chamber. From that point, there is no witness who can verify Toroku-san's words that he managed to free himself and kill Orochimaru of the Sannin by himself with a lucky fire jutsu." Paper ruffled as Makoto checked his notes.
"Toroku-san claimed that he had hit Orochimaru with a combination of fire and wind jutsu while Orochimaru was on the ground after Toroku-san had made a final kick to his face. Based on the post-mortem, the cause of death was a broken neck, while the fire jutsu was cast after his death, which supports Toroku-san's statement."
Nobody moved, nobody said a word or even coughed. Finally Minato broke the stupor as he slowly sat up to make the decision. Naruto flinched when his father called for him to stand in the middle. His slow footsteps were followed by an ANBU.
"We've heard enough. I hereby close the council meeting. I, Namikaze Minato as the Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, find Orochimaru of the Sannin guilty against the charge of treason and murdering, torturing and experimenting on 169 men, women and children. State your disagreement if there is any." Minato glanced around the still silent room, nobody made any intention to retort.
"Furthermore, I hereby clear Namikaze Toroku of the charge of treason and murder." Again, nothing could be heard, the clan leaders stayed in silence, only some of them glanced toward the silent and obviously exhausted teen with a calculating eye. All of them knew that Minato's relative was strong, even if he currently held only the rank of chunin. But to be on equal level of one of the Sannin both unnerved and satisfied them.
"I hereby declare all information about this case to be an S-class secret. No one is allowed to reveal any information without the Hokage's express permission."
Minato slowly ran his eyes over each and every member in the chamber, one by one, before he narrowed his azure orbs. Something changed in the atmosphere as if something had clicked inside him, making every attendant hunch over in fear, like a small child. In the next moment his stern voice echoed inside the chamber.
"I don't know who were so foolish in your lines to charge my brother without any real clue and clear knowledge of the whole situation, but I can promise one thing. If I ever find evidence against who was the one who informed and gathered the council behind my back, he will be the one standing on that podium instead of my brother and he will be charged with treason by me."
Minato shot one more glare toward each of the still and deadly silent members, his cerulean pools left Danzo's stoic face just a fraction later than the others'.
After the declaration the room slowly emptied, some of the members stopped for a quick nod toward the young chuunin, while Inoichi made a small bow. Naruto was still carefully avoiding Jiraiya's dark eyes as he and the Sandaime passed beside him, but he still stared at the closed door silently after the two left the room. Soon, only the two Namikaze stayed in the empty room with the overwhelming silence. However, they also departed without even a single word.
A harsh, snapping sound echoed inside the dim chamber as a shadowed figure channeled some of his growing frustration onto his desk, clutching the edge too hard for the wood to endure the strain.
Shimura Danzo strained all of his nerves not to brake his emotionless mask. Who could have guessed that the Namikaze brat would stop his ANBU from reaching the last surviving brat. And who would have thought that that brat had enough power to even spit out details like that?
His undercover ANBU had informed him that Orochimaru's hideout was discovered as soon as the Hokage disappeared. He thought that with eliminating all witnesses, the charge would be enough against that damn brat. He had acted too fast, too recklessly when the opportunity that he could get rid of the Namikaze brat arose.
In the next blink, he forced his muscles to relax. His old and raspy voice filled the chamber as he hissed into the darkness. Low enough that only he could hear it.
"That Toroku child. He is too powerful. Nobody sees what I can see: that he is a threat to Konoha." His eyes stared into the darkness suddenly clear and focused, his face was stoic once again.
"Rat!" An ANBU appeared beside him instantly in a crouch, head bowed carefully.
"Lets move to another tactic. If we can't get rid of him by force, we will make him leave Konoha willingly." The ANBU quickly looked up to face his leader, waiting for the orders. His face was carefully schooled and showed no emotion.
"The boy has got a good reputation among the villagers. They like him. Lets destroy that image. Start spreading the word about what happened to Orochimaru in the village. Dress as a civilian, go to the market, to the bars. Lets open the citizens' eyes to what kind of monster Namikaze Toroku is. That he coldheartedly killed one of Konoha's heroes. Lets raise fear in the sidelines and let the villagers do the rest."
The morning was awkward. Minato acted like nothing had happened before, while Kushina was weary and uncharastically silent. Her hand traveled toward her belly from time to time, stealing small glances toward the blond leader. But her acts went unnoticed by the two blondes. A new presence kicked Naruto out from his own small world, a presence which sent all of his previous strength out of his body along with the blood in his face. Jiraiya stepped into the room, still carefully avoiding Naruto's eyes, but still noting his reaction: his pale face and tensed muscles. In the next instant the time traveler and his godfather were alone in the dining room as his parents retreated to give them space .
Naruto stubbornly stared at his empty plate in front of him, while Jiraiya occupied the counter, leaning against it, his arms folded in front of his chest. Both of them were waiting for the other to finally start the unavoidable conversation and finally it was Naruto, who blurted out first.
"I'm sorry."
"I don't...I'm not angry at you. You did the right thing." Finally Naruto raised his head, to meet with Jiraiya's eyes. The toad summoner looked obviously weary, dark circles sat under his orbs, while his wrinkles somehow seemed deeper from the lack of sleep and the last night's stress.
"You should be." The blond shinobi worded the first thing that came to his mind.
The sannin eyed him for some time until a humourless smile tilted the corners of his mouth. "My best friend died a long time ago. He died the moment he went against everything I hold dear. You...You've killed a soulless shell. A shadow." Naruto opened his mouth to respond, but somehow nothing came out of it, so he instead shut it when the aging Toad summoner let out a long sigh.
"You know...I was aware that something was wrong with him lately. His obsession with immortality and to learn every jutsu in the world became worse and worse with every passing day. And what is more disturbing is that myself and my sensei turned our heads from some of the things which pointed toward what he was doing in the background. We were blind, blinded by our bonds. I did realize that Orochimaru became antisocial, that he disappeared between missions and after Minato became the Yondaime Hokage instead of him, that it became worse." Jiraiya unfolded his arms and slowly moved to sit down at the table across from his temporary student.
"It is also my fault what had happened to you and the others. I should have seen the signs." Azure blue eyes glanced up suddenly, as guilt started to emanate from the sannin's pores.
"No. It was never your fault. He-"
"He was mad. If I wasn't seeing it with my own eyes, my opinion would be different. If I didn't see the cells, the people and the children down there, I think I would have been angry at you. I would even try to defend him. I would have tried to reason with him, try to save him. But after I saw what he had done...I'm not angry at you. You did the right thing."
"I'm still sorry. I didn't want to kill him. I just-"
"Don't be a fool." Another conversation popped up in his mind, in another time and another version of his godfather. A small smile appeared on his face while he murmured his answer softly.
"I'm not a fool. I'm a moron." Jiraiya raised a confused eyebrow, but let it be. But he silently agreed. He was indeed a total moron.
"Rin and Kakashi are waiting for you at the usual place. We'll meet there. And I remind you, Minato ordered total information lockdown. What happened down there is now an S-ranked secret. The last thing this village needs in the middle of a chuunin exam is the bashing of the other countries." Naruto nodded and silently left the room.
He passed by his father in the living room, who watched as he silently dragged himself out from the house. Only when his chakra signature started to fade away to the distance did Minato look up to meet Jiraiya's eyes.
"You are cruel. After what had happened you really sent him to the training ground?" Jiraiya sank down in the couch before he answered.
"You also know that exhaustion is the best medicine for troubled thoughts." Jiraiya opened his mouth to tell more, when a new presence appeared in the doorstep. The sannin let out a long sigh as his once teacher slowly approached the living room, flaring his chakra for a second to be recognizable before he stepped through the doorway. Experienced and old eyes traveled over the two sitting men, his hands unconsciously looking for the pipe from his pouch, but it was nowhere to be found. Sarutobi let out a weary sigh and also sank down into one of the empty chairs to ease away his own weariness.
The three men stayed in silence, only one or two meaningful and knowing glance were shared between them until the Sandaime broke it.
"How is Toroku-kun?"
"Physically he was almost perfectly healed when the council meeting ended. Mentally…" The blond leader shook his head. "...He is too kindhearted and naive for this profession. I saw green horned chuunins during the war after their first kill. Some were unaffected, while others were almost as shook up as him. Even if killing is part of being a shinobi, school and tales could never prepare you well enough for the real experience. It becomes easier and easier with time, but you'll never get used to it. You'll always remember each life you've ended. Their faces will be burned deep inside your mind forever." Minato murmured more to himself then to the others in the room, his eyes locked on his hands.
"And how is Kushina?" asked Sarutobi, diverting the subject.
Minato made a quick and altogether thankful glance toward the third. "Like nothing had ever happened. She is a little bit weary, but beside that she is ok. The seal is also as powerful as ever. I still don't know what happened to it."
A fatherly smile spread across Sarutobi's face despite what had happened the last night. A small bright ray of sunshine warmed him up from head to toe as he eyed the clueless village leader. "Did Kushina speak to you?" The Sandaime noted the blank look on Minato's face and shook his head. "I take that as a no."
The once Hokage then looked at his student, noting the dark circles under his eyes and the deepened wrinkles in the corner of his eyes and mouth. One night. Only one night was enough to do the work of a decade on Jiraiya's face. And he didn't have to look in the mirror, he knew he would also find the same on his own face.
"And how are you, my friend?"
Jiraiya closed his eyes and folded his arms in a defensive manner before he answered. "I could have asked the same question from you old man. He...he was also your student. Not just my bastard teammate."
The Sandaime let out a long and weary sigh. "If I hadn't been that blind maybe we could have found out his doings earlier. And if I even think about the fact that I almost made him Hokage instead of Minato...But I'm still hoping that deep down in his heart there was still some kindness and light beside the darkness and the madness." The old leader shook his head once more, wrinkles deepening with the motion and the new frown on his features. "If it wasn't for Toroku-kun, who knows how long it would have been until we found out...Maybe many, long years. I don't know, if it would have been me who found that situation, would I be able to do the right thing?"
The Sannin let out a long sigh and opened his sore mouth. "I talked with the boy after the council meeting. With the one who had survived O-Orochimaru's experiments." He stumbled slightly over the name. "He was kidnapped from an orphan house in Ame. My...late teammate gathered his subjects from them or temporary accommodations in Ame. Sometimes picking up lonely, wandering shinobi."
Minato grimaced. "It makes sense. Ame is isolated. No word would reach the elemental countries about the disappearance of orphans and people from there. If he had picked up the people from Konoha or the other big nations, we would investigate with full force."
Jiraiya nodded and continued, while Sarutobi's troubled frown only deepened. "We found dozens of Sharingan eyes. He...He was obsessed by its power that allowed the user to copy any jutsu. We found ancient scrolls about the Mangekyo Sharingan. We found several corpses with injuries which indicated a failed eye transplant, probably with a Sharingan and notes about a new experiment, which needs a powerful host. It seems that all of his previous transplants failed because the hosts bodies weren't ready for the dojutsu. Their chakra system was full-grown. He needed a young shinobi with still-developing chakra coils and high reserves for his experiment. It seems that's why Kakashi's surgery was successful. Because he is young and his chakra system could adapt to the sharingan and also have the necessary reserves to activate them. Or someone like Toroku. With his healing abilities and chakra level, he was a perfect subject. I..." Jiraiya glance toward Minato. "I think I know how he appeared from thin air inside the village walls." Minato narrowed his eyes and gestured to his teacher to continue.
"I think that my teammate brought him here to experiment on him with one of those eyes...Yamato also told me that he liked to wear a henge with a Sharingan. He...he became obviously insane. That's why Toroku first thought he was in a genjutsu. That's why he thought he had been fighting with an Uchiha. He somehow managed to escape...And..." Jiraiya suddenly became silent, but instead of him, Minato had continued with a guilty expression.
"I let Orochimaru into his room to examine him while Toroku was unconscious after our first meeting in the hospital passage. When he blacked out, I left Orochimaru alone with him while I was rearranging the new ANBU guards. It was him, who messed up his memories to save himself. And the more and more frequent encounters with him triggered some of his memories. His rage and hatred. Every time he looked at Orochimaru, I waited for Toroku to snap and tear him into small pieces. Furthermore, Orochimaru was in carefully restrained ecstasy to examine Kakashi when he heard about his sharingan the day we arrived. And...on that week, Orochimaru was wounded while fighting with someone.." Minato frowned before he continued. "But...then Toroku never knew Nagato. Our previous theory was wrong. And how on earth was Orochimaru able to bring him here if he was able to kill him?" Jiraiya shook his head and rubbed his eyes.
"I'm still sure he knows Nagato. There is no other way he would know about my book. That theory is still the most plausible for his background. He must be from Ame. And now, we've got a new questions; how he appeared here inside Konoha." Jiraiya narrowed his eyes before he continued. "It was Orochimaru who brought him to his lab. Maybe he stumbled across him in one of his travels and trick him into coming to Konoha with him. His resemblance to you is obvious. Maybe he tricked him with the promise of a family, that he has a relative here. I mean you. If he had fabricated that story, I'm sure Toroku would follow him willingly here. He can be very naive sometimes. It would also explain his reaction to you in that passage. Maybe even for Sarutobi. Its not unheard of if someone was restrained by a powerful genjutsu. I know several genjutsu which plays with a captive's head, showing him his rescue mission. But we won't know the full story until Toroku tells us."
Minato shook his head. "I don't want to push him. His past was obviously a hard one. I don't want to break him. If he wants to tell us more about himself, he will. Maybe it is better for all of us. I mean if his memories won't recover perfectly." His two companion didn't answer, they just stood there silently, all of them buried in his own thoughts, trying to process the happenings of the previous night.
Finally Sarutobi broke it by shaking his head and letting out a long, weary sigh. "You're making up your own conclusions and wild theories, and desperately trying to bring truth into them. There is no real evidence to support what you just came up with. But we should get some rest, yesterday was a busy night. For all of us. Lets just leave your wild theories for today and not bother ourselves with these kind of thoughts. We still have a lot of things to do. Anko should have already arrived at the Hokage tower, waiting for me and Minato."
Both men turned toward the retired village leader but they didn't retort. Instead they obeyed his words as small children would do.
Minato closed his eyes in the middle of his office in the Hokage tower. The shocked Anko was long gone, as well as Jiraiya and Sarutobi, but Minato's racing mind and face never had an opportunity to relax. The head of konoha's medic requested an immediate audience as soon as he was left alone. And from the first minute of the report, a deep frown had been carved upon his fine features. The Hokage pinched the bridge of his noise and opened his mouth.
"Are you sure in this?"
The medic nodded. "Yes, Hokage sama. The cause of death was poisoning for everybody who we had rescued alive from the laboratory. All the survivors were poisoned beside the small kid with a slowly acting toxin. We could have easily brushed the effects to the side, but when the child didn't show any symptoms like the others we started to get suspicious. So we performed several test and one was positive."
"When?" Minato asked in a low voice and finally opened his eyes to pierce directly through the medic, who unconsciously flinched a step back when the always sunny eyes suddenly become cold as glaciers. They looked dangerous now, like a real predator.
"M-Most likely during the rescue mission. He was in the last cell. He was lucky because of that. Someone successfully poisoned everybody in Orochimaru's laboratory, but he or she didn't have enough time to reach him before help arrived." Minato narrowed his eyes, his muscles tensed. With one flick of his hand he dismissed the medic, who gratefully retreated from the furious form of his leader maybe a little bit faster than was necessary. He really felt sorry for the traitor if his leader ever found them.
The Yondaime buried himself inside his thoughts, pacing back and forth inside the now empty office. Three pair of eyes followed him from the shadows. The ANBU guards were on high alert seeing their leader's raising frustration. Minato suddenly stopped, his commanding voice filled the tower once again.
"Tiger, Owl!" The named two ANBU almost flinched despite their experience, but they obediently stepped in front of the Hokage, waiting for commands.
"Get two ANBU squads and grab the three ANBU who were with me during the rescue mission. Bring them to the interrogation department and question them about the incident." The two soldiers disappeared in the next blink.
Minato let out a weary sigh and slowly moved toward the window and folded his arms behind his back to look over the still clueless village.
However his silence was disturbed just half an hour later as one of the previous ANBU reappeared inside his office. "Hokage-sama."
"Report."
"Wolf and Sparrow were successfully captured. They didn't even fight back. But Boar…" Minato narrowed his eyes and finally turned around to face with the nervous soldier, who finally continued." Boar is dead. He committed suicide during the ambush. There had been a cyanide capsule hidden inside one of his teeth."
Minato dismissed the ANBU and ran a hand through his blond locks in the attempt to channel down some of his growing frustration. A lonely ANBU watched as his leader's anger had been slowly rising and rising until it exploded into an almost animalistic snarl. However he wasn't aware of Minato's first intent to punch the wall with a rasengan. The Hokage shook himself in the next second and straightened, his chakra flared for a second with furry before it faded away.
"Crow!" The until now lurking ANBU appeared in the middle of the room, warily eyeing his leader after the small outburst.
"I have a new personal mission for you." The ANBU curiously tilted his head to the side, waiting for his Hokage to continue. "Your father...He was Shimura Danzo's teammate wasn't he?"
The ANBU stilled for a second and Minato could have sworn that he saw the obsidian eyes narrowing behind the white porcelain before he answered. "Yes, Hokage-sama."
Minato made a brief nod and he stepped closer to the soldier. Not in a threatening manner, but
the seasoned shinobi soon felt like an animal in a corner. Without his experience he was sure he would gulp.
"Tell me, Crow. Where does your loyalty lie?" The ANBU tilted his head in a puzzled manner and the Yondaime was sure that a confused expression spread across his face behind the smooth surface of his mask. "Are you a loyal shinobi of Konoha?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
"Are you loyal to the Hokage?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
"Are you loyal to anyone else beside the Hokage and Konoha?"
Minato didn't get an answer, however, only a choked sound escaped behind the ANBU's lips. A half smile appeared on the blond's face. "I know a lot about you. I also have my contacts. You are having doubts about him and his methods aren't you? You could have been his perfect soldier, but you couldn't kill your emotions, could you?"
The ANBU tensed for a second, before his shoulders slumped in defeat. He slowly raised his arm to get rid of the cold porcelain mask and the hood also slipped down to his shoulders, revealing his short and untidy dark locks. Obsidian dark eyes peered into Minato's electric blue ones, filled with regret, shame and sorrow.
Only that one look convenienced Minato that he was doing the right thing. No shinobi should have that kind of look. Not someone his age. He made one step closer to the boy in his early teens and softly placed one hand on his shoulder.
"I had only once spoken with Uchiha Kagami. But I know that he was greatly dedicated to protecting this village. He had accomplished much for the sake of Konoha, and I am adamant that his will has been passed onto his son."
Minato watched the young boy's painful wince and reassuringly squeezed his shoulder a little. "So I ask you just one question. How far will you go for the sake of the village?"
The ANBU didn't answer for a long minute, trying to figure out his leader's intentions. But when he did so, his confident voice filled the room. "I will gladly sacrifice myself in the name of peace, Hokage-sama."
A soft, almost fatherly smile appeared on Minato's face. "However I appreciate your self sacrifice, that won't be necessary. You're going to infiltrate the infiltrators."
Minato's soft smile started to widened, but in the next blink his eyes hardened as steel and the ANBU furrowed his brow in confusion. "Are you ready to become a double agent in Root, Uchiha Shisui? But this time for Konoha?"
"You are a liar. You promised me a free treat of ramen." The young Iwa genin whined behind a pout to Naruto and folded his arms in a sulking manner, who just stared back at him with a strangely restrained and emotionless face until he let out a long sigh and answered.
"I'm sorry. I forgot about that." He had stumbled across the young boy on the almost empty streets of the village, or most likely Shiko had been looking for him the whole day to Naruto's displeasure. The kid reminded him more and more of Konohamaru. He only needed a long blue scarf, and if he would wear his hitai-ate on his forehead to hold back his hair, instead of around his neck, they would pass as siblings. The loud chuunin had the same eyes, and he looked back at him just now in the same mocking way as Konohamaru did when he was irritated with him.
A sour and painful smile crawled onto his face, watching the young Iwa genin, but it was hard seeing the shadow or the ghost of his once rival. Konohamaru had stayed in Konoha with his genin team to watch over the almost empty village and the civilians. Their bodies had never been recovered, most likely disappeared together with the walls around Konoha. Something must have shown on his face, as the child's rambling suddenly stopped, and chocolate brown eyes started to observe him somewhat warily. The sour smile was replaced with a false grin when Naruto ruffled the brown locks of his newest friend.
"Come on, I'll treat you to free ramen after I'm finished with Jiraiya." His only answer was an enthusiastic nod.
The Sannin had been late and to Naruto's annoyance none of his friends were in a talkative mood, leaving him to sink into his own thoughts and in a second he found himself in his mindscape face to face with Kurama watching him with calculating red eyes.
"This isn't the best time you know."
"We have to talk."
"Jiraiya could be here any moment." Naruto grumbled, but the fox's expression stayed stoic, his eyes observing.
"This can't wait."
Naruto snorted and folded his arms across his chest. "If you want to talk about what you've done, its not necessary. I understand its need. And I also won't confess to Minato until we have found Madara, we've discussed this subject for months and I-"
"Its about the seal." Kurama interrupted him, silencing Naruto's rambling immediately, forcing him to glance up with a frown.
"About my seal?"
"Yes. I've been thinking about what had happened in the cave. Even under that many chakra suppression seals, the emotion of my other self still influenced us when we used our full power. I think closing our original seal would prevent that next time." Naruto snorted once more and an angry grimace spread across his face.
"I won't re-close the seal. I won't lock you up, even if it is for our own good. No." Kurama's face mirrored no emotion, he kept it as stoic as it always was as he answered while he observed his companion.
"We will need our full power against Madara and we will need a clear head. Both of us. We can't make any mistakes. You do realize that?"
"I do!" Naruto hissed. "But I won't change my mind. I won't let you be stuck behind bars once more. There has to be another way. I'll go and dig up the library to find a mind barrier or something which is powerful enough to restrain your counterpart's emotions." Kurama let out a sigh but nodded.
"While I appreciate what you just said, I still think the easiest way is reclosing the seal."
Naruto frowned as his brain worked. Defiant eyes stared in front of himself, while his hands clenched into fists at his side. The blond suddenly opened his brilliant blue eyes, but in the next moment he felt a familiar thug from the outside world. He made one last glance toward his companion while a giant grin appeared on his face. "I know what we are going to do about that!"
Kurama narrowed his crimson pools, suspiciously eyeing his host for a long second. In the end he simply shook his head and motioned toward the back of the mindscape. "We will talk about this later. You should go now or he will think that you are sleeping."
Naruto sent a last beaming smile. When he opened his eyes in the next blink in the real world, he found himself face to face with a crouching Jiraiya staring at him just centimeters from his face.
"How the hell can you sleep this deep? Maybe we should delay this training. Go home and get some rest."
Naruto snorted, shook his head and straightened himself, brushing off some of the dirt from his pants. "No way. I need this training. And I could say the same. You look like shit."
Jiraiya snorted and stepped to the side to give some space to the young boy. "True. A small spar will raise both of our moods I think." IA small smile spread across Naruto's face almost instantly and he gratefully accepted the help of his godfather.
In the end, he was right. His gathered frustration evaporated freely from his mind and his muscles with each punch he had given to the toad sage. A small weight of his burden disappeared with each hit he received and at the end of the day, he slumped to the ground by exhaustion with a satisfied smile on his face, his previous troubled thoughts were nowhere to be found.
"So? What's your plan?"
Naruto rearranged his relaxed face muscles into a wide grin. "The plan is that I'm going to do what I'm the best at." Kurama raised a confused eyebrow, or at least the place his eyebrow should be. However, before he could word out his confusion Naruto opened his mouth. "I'm good at affecting people, correct?" Kurama made a small hesitant nod. "Then I'm going to speak with your other self sealed inside Kushina and ask you...err...him or whatever to cooperate to save the world from doom."
Nothing could be heard for a long silent minute. Naruto just grinned at his companion, while the giant fox just stared back at him with a raised eyebrow. However the silence was soon interrupted by Kurama's loud echoing laughter.
"You know brat, that is the stupidest idea I've ever heard from you!" Naruto grimaced and his expression soon turned into a pout, folding his arms in front of his chest in a sulking manner, watching as Kurama slowly gathered himself from his fits of laughter. "However...Your stupid ideas have a tendency to actually work," Kurama chuckled, making Naruto brighten up almost instantly, forgetting his previous sulking.
"So, can we do it? Can we talk to you like with the other bijuu during the war?"
The fox made a wandering face, then nodded. "It is possible. However Kushina's seal is different. It is a real Uzumaki seal. We have to do it while she is sleeping or there's a chance that we could trigger a defence mechanism in the seal. Like your own seal, Kushina's also allows a connection between the host and my old self. She might feel our…" Kurama stopped there for a moment, looking for a fitting word. "...presence."
His only answer was a wide, confident grin and a determined glint in azure eyes.
Uzumaki Naruto silently sat on his bed in a meditating pose. His ears twitched when the warm laughter of his mother reached his senses. Her jingling voice traveled between the thick walls of the Hokage mansion like they were made of simple paper, and a small smile appeared on Naruto's face almost instantly. He could smell her sweet smell as it filled the whole house. The infallibile smell of exotic vanilla. Then he heard as the bedroom door opened and closed, the hinges squeaked faintly between the walls.
Then his father's smell filled his room even behind the closed doors. The smell of freshly cut grass and wet soil with a hint of cucumber. He let out a long breath, letting his heartbeat to slow down, while forcing his senses to settle down. He reach out for an unnoticeable amount of senjutsu and suddenly his previously settled senses spread out in a well known manner. He could feel their heartbeat rather than hear them. Pulsing deep inside him. As they settled down and floated closer and closer to the edge of sleep, their two separately beating hearts slowly became one beat, so did Naruto's own heart fall into the rhythm.
However his unmoving form faltered when he found another presence inside his parents room. A weak, tiny, almost unnoticeable presence. Betrayed by nothing else than the faint, but still fast heartbeat. A frown crawled up on Naruto's face and as minutes passed, it became deeper and deeper. However it slowly disappeared.
'Kurama...That is…'
A warm smile appeared on the fox's furry face. "Yes. That is you."
Naruto didn't react, just his face mirrored the same sunny expression. He reached out for nature once more and his senses sharpened more. He felt his own unnoticeable chakra, he could feel his own tiny little beating heart. Then it slowly moved. Nothing more than mere millimeters as his own presence may be influencing his sleeping. Naruto didn't notice the passing time until he felt Kurama's small tug from his consciousness.
"If we want to do it we should do it now before Kushina drifts into the rem phase."
Naruto hesitantly nodded and after one last "glance" toward his small, developing body he reappeared between the giant ossian trees with a big, happy smile on his face. Kurama eyed his companion for a second before he closed his eyes to reach out for his counterpart.
The still grinning blond watched him and after a quick shrug he just mimicked him and also closed his eyes. Then, suddenly, everything became silent. The previous soft ruffling of flora around them was gone. He couldn't hear as the osiers trees long brunches brushed against each other, nor the whisper of the wind as it playfully slipped through them. Everything was gone.
His eyes snapped open, only to find himself inside a yellowish void. He blinked faster and faster until he realized that the lazily whirling mist wouldn't disappear by it. A soft ruffle gained his attention and he turned his head to note Kurama's giant form behind him and the grimace on his face as he stared up. Naruto traced his gaze and he had to swallow a sharp breath when he spotted the Fox's disturbance.
A giant orb occupied his vision and the other self of Kurama was pinned in the middle of it. Giant stalks strung out from each of his tails and limbs and one even from his chest, while several chains restrained any other movement. He was there stretched out, but the angry and even confused crimson orbs were fixed on Kurama behind him. However his composure didn't falter. Just his grimace turned into a smirk. It was even a little embarrassed. Well, just a little.
"You know brat, it is true that I had complained a lot in the past that your seal was small and uncomfortable, but standing here and seeing my old place making my old complains looks like a childlike tantrum."
Naruto snorted and opened his mouth to retort, however the Kyuubi in front of him was faster as he snapped. "What's the meaning of this?!"
"We are here because this boy here wanted to talk to you."
The Kyuubi narrowed his eyes and finally glanced down to the blond boy, who sent back a toothy grin in response and enthusiastically waved his hand.
"Yo Kurama 2!" The Kyuubi's only answer was an animalistic growl. However Kurama watched his counterpart with calm calculating eyes. He slowly raised behind Naruto and came closer to the seal, inspecting every single aspect of the Uzumaki seal until he settled down in front of him again and somehow the orb seemed to drift closer and closer to him and they soon found himself eye level to each other. Kurama made a small motion with his head and Naruto immediately hopped up to his fox's head.
"You've felt it from the very beginning haven't you? That something is wrong, that you felt your own presence from outside but you couldn't grasp the meaning of it. Well, let me introduce this boy to you. This is Uzumaki Naruto. Our third jinchuuriki. Son of our second. We came back." Crimson eyes narrowed into slits, his gaze flickered from his smaller mirror image to the blond boy on his head. Then after a tense second his barking laughter filled the emptiness around them.
"You think I'm a fool? That I'm going to believe you? No one can make a fool of the great Kyuubi no Kitsune! You are not me! I would never allow a hairless monkey to even address me and you are letting that freak of nature on your head?! Don't make me laugh you pitiful mirage!"
"He is worse than you were in the beginning, Kurama. But I think it is understandable. It doesn't look very comfortable." Naruto pointed out with a grimace, however both the named fox and the kyuubi ignored him.
"This boy here. It is him. The old man talked about him. And now he needs your help. The future where we came from is in great danger." The kyuubi suddenly became silent, however Naruto looked down on his companion head in confusion. He stared into the fuzzy head above in the hope that if he tried hard enough he could see through the thick fur and hard skull so he can see inside his friends thoughts and finally his previous statement would make sense to him.
"What are you talking about? Who is this old man?" Naruto blurted out. However he was ignored again. The two ancient old entities just watched each other silently for a long minute, before the kyuubi's crimson pupils drifted up to him.
"Time travel huh?" The kyuubi let out a chuckle which somehow made the soft flake on Naruto's neck stand up instantly in alarm. "Let's assume for a moment that I believe you. How would you convince me to help you?"
The blond perked up. "So you believe us?"
"No." Came the dull answer. Naruto narrowed his eyes and the previous pout was back again. The battle of wills began as both of the participants refused to avert their gaze from each other or blink. Azure orbs stared into crimson unflinchingly. However Kurama stopped the battle before it could escalate any further.
"We will tell you everything. But first lets get rid of those spikes for some time." Before the kyuubi could retort, the seal was gone from his flesh, his painful restrains simply disappeared from existence as their consciousness reappeared in the well known empty void. However the Kyuubi could still distantly feel as the seal restrained his body and chakra from moving freely. The nine tailed narrowed his eyes even more as he eyed his counterpart suspiciously. Then he simply turned around to show his back to his companions.
"Who said that I'll listen to you? I'm not interested in your story."
"You will listen to it if you want to or not." Kurama made an encouraging motion with his head to the sulking Naruto. The blond boy grimaced, his nose scrunched up in his displeasure but in the end he let it go.
"Kurama-"
"You don't have the right to call me by my name!" The Kyuubi growled. Naruto paused and closed his eyes. He then made a silent decision and stepped in front of the still annoyed Nine tailed beast. Azure eyes bored into crimson ones. Then, to Kurama's great surprise, the time traveller bowed to the demon.
"Kyuubi-sama. We need your help. Your life is in danger, as is the whole world. Without your help, destruction will spread across the world when the Juubi is revived." The kyuubi's face stayed blank, however a small amount of amusement still sparkled in his eyes. The great fox demon watched the bowing teen in front of him for one long and silent minute before he made his decision.
"So be it. I'll listen. But I'm not promising anything."
"Toroku, could you pass me the milk?" Minato rasped out in a weak voice and when he received the desired ingredient he eagerly poured it into his coffee.
Naruto glanced toward his father from his seat next to the dining table. His eyes lingered on the messy blond locks screaming for the help of a brush. Minato's always shining eyes were still dim by his dreams. And his pajama were still on him, ruining the perfect picture of the fearsome Hokage, the only man who managed to get a 'flee on sight' warning in the bingo books. Obviously that man wasn't a morning person. Just like Naruto's mother.
Every morning was the same. She and his father dragged themselves down, and until they got their boost they were simply useless. A small smile tugged at the edge of his lips, when Minato placed another cup of the steaming coffee on the table. A loud yawn interrupted his silent and peaceful morning. Naruto blinked toward his mother, who just stepped inside the room, continuously rubbing her eyes to finally get rid of the aftereffects of the night.
"Man, I had the weirdest dream ever." Kushina muttered while dragged herself to the nearest chair and simply dropped down, snatching her coffee like her life was depending on it. Naruto quirked an eyebrow, patiently waiting for his mother to continue. Another tiff later she did so.
"It was about you, Toroku, and the Kyuubi." Naruto froze. But thankfully none of them saw his shocked expression as both of them were busy with their morning routine. Minato just hemmed in front of the stove and dropped one more egg into the pan while Kushina eagerly rubbed her eyes and let out a yawn before she continued. "It was funny, because there were two demons. You were talking with the bigger one, while you were sitting on the head of a smaller one. I don't remember quite clearly." The blond time traveller could feel as a small droplet of sweat started it's way down his spine and Kurama also stilled inside the pit of his seal. Kushina made a wandering face before she continued.
"Then the Sandaime appeared in green spandex and declared that from now on ramen is the mandatory meal on every sunday." Kushina shook her head and a wide smile spread across her fine features. "This wouldn't be a bad idea would it?"
Naruto's previous tension was gone in the next blink. He sent back a beaming smile and his loud laughter filled the small dining room in the next second.
Kitsuchi glanced to the side, where the Yondaime's brother currently occupied the counter beside him at the ramen stand. A troubled frown appeared on his face, as he observed the blond boy, measuring him up from head to toe, and silently watching his bickering with Shiko. Even that he is a foreigner, the gossip and whispering didn't evade his sensitive ears. A rumor that Orochimaru, the strongest of the three Sannin, is dead. And it was Toroku who killed him in cold blood.
However the named blond wasn't aware of this gossip. But he was aware that something was wrong. That something felt different when he had been walking outside. He just didn't catch the edge of it. Ten minutes later the small group headed toward their real destination, to one of the empty training grounds where Shiko had been preparing for the final round of the chuunin exam since three weeks.
Naruto slowly walked between the two foreign shinobi, his hands folded behind his neck in a casual way. No words were exchanged between the ninja as they wandered on the crowded streets. Azure blue eyes observed the crowd around them, hovering on a small girl with a soft smile on his face. The child sent back a beaming smile when she spotted the chuunin, but suddenly an arm wrapped around her in a protective manner, shrouding her from his sight. Naruto cocked his head to the side in confusion, as he noted the mother's restrained scowl. Cerulean eyes moved toward the woman's eyes and what he found there frozen him to his very core.
Glare. The woman glared at him. With the same hateful and pointed glare he received during his childhood from almost everybody. The same eyes looked back at him which haunted him during the first twelve years of his life.
The blond flinched a step backward, bumping into Shiko, almost pushing him to the ground who also stopped and watched the blond's widening eyes and shocked expression with a concerned face.
"Hey, what's wrong with you?" Shiko snorted while he regained his composure, but he received no answer to his question. Naruto just shook his head, not sure in his own voice. The browny commander stepped between him and the glaring woman cutting off their eye contact without knowing.
"Toroku-kun?" This kicked the stunned chuunin out of his temporary stasis. An annoyed expression spread across his face, and he pushed the shinobi out from his way and he continued his walk with increased speed, followed by the two confused Iwa nin.
Naruto's heart beat increased, along with his breathing as he spotted more and more glaring civilians. "Naruto..." The blond didn't listen, instead increased his footsteps, and he soon found himself running, dashing among the people toward the training ground to flee from the glares. He leaped over a stand, lowering his height to land fluidly and instantly round a corner. But he suddenly found himself on the ground, nursing his throbbing forehead with one of his arm, as well as a child in front of him.
Naruto shook his head to get rid of the dancing stars in his sight, the child in front of him also mimicking his attempt. The child's brown eyes suddenly widened when he realized who he just bumped into.
"Toroku-san! I was looking for you!"
"Not now, Iruka." Naruto muttered, still nursing his throbbing forehead. But it thankfully diverted his troubled thoughts. Two other shinobi joined them in the next second, Shiko stumbled across Iruka, tossing the child to the ground again.
"Hey jerk! Watch where are you going!" Iruka shouted, pointing a finger to the stunned chuunin candidate. But Shiko wasn't stunned for too long, he sucked in a long breath to shout out his own retort to the insolent shrimp, but his intent was stopped when Iruka suddenly jumped on his feet and rushed toward the blond teen, his eyes wide and his eyes suddenly filled with fear.
"Is it true? Tell me they are wrong!" Naruto made an annoyed grunt and shook his head once more before he straightened himself, sweeping the small hands from his vest.
"What are you talking about, Iruka?"
"My...my mom told me that I'm not allowed to meet with you ever again. Because...she said that you...That you killed a hero." Naruto's eyes widened, his head snapped toward the pleading small boy, his mouth falling open. He stumbled a step backward and his suddenly dry lips parted to answer, but no coherent word came to life.
"I..."
"Tell me that they are lying! I told her that you would never do anything like that! That they are wrong! That you wouldn't kill Orochimaru-sama! You wouldn't kill a hero would you?" Naruto opened his mouth once more to answer, but when his eyes met with Iruka's desperately pleading chocolate brown eyes he knew that he wouldn't be able to lie to his future sensei. To the first person who had acknowledge him. He averted his gaze to look at the bricked wall, but there he had to face with the observing eyes of Kitsuchi.
Naruto swallowed to get rid of the dryness of his throat and slowly glanced around, to note the more and more eyes around them. Civilians, shinobi, even an ANBU stood in the background eagerly waiting for his answer. The blond shook off the child's hands which were desperately clutching his green chuunin vest again.
"Iruka..."
"Tell me that they are wrong! Please..."
"Iruka..."
"Please..."
The young Uzumaki crouched down to be eye level to the child and whispered his answer only to the child's ears. "I'm sorry."
Chocolate brown eyes widened with disbelief, as Iruka shook his head in denial. "No..."
"I'm very sorry." Naruto whispered again even lower.
In the next second, Iruka was nowhere to be seen as the small child launched himself into the gathered crowd. Naruto stared at the point where his sensei had disappeared and he averted his gaze from the point only when he felt a hand on his shoulder. His brain was still numb, he hadn't been really able to process what had happened in the last ten minutes. He glanced up to see Jiraiya's frowning face.
"Come. Minato summoned you." Naruto nodded and they disappeared from the middle of the crowd with a quick shunshin.
Two pairs of identical azure eyes watched each other, one standing in the middle of the Hokage's office, the other sitting behind the desk, wearing the long white coat with the sign on his back, shouting away his identity.
"Some disturbing things are happening in the village." Naruto made a sour grimace and folded his arms across his chest.
"Yeah. I heard them. Actually I heard them today for the first time." Minato made a half smile and glanced toward his once teacher.
"We had discussed the matter with Jiraiya and with Sarutobi, together with the Hokage's personal advisory body. We made a decision together. " Minato gestured to the left, where Shikaku stood, arms crossed, eyes closed as he leaned against the bookshelves. The Nara head let out a weary sigh and opened his eyes.
"Someone has been leaking information about your incident with Orochimaru. Gossip started amongst the civilians and in the lines of shinobi." Naruto snorted and opened his mouth to retort, but when the Nara raised his hand, he immediately shut it and let him continue.
"Someone is trying to break your reputation into small shards, together with Minato's. The chuunin exams and the Kage meeting is on our heels. In six days the first delegation will arrive and the first thing they will hear in the village is that a murderer is wondering the streets while one of Konoha's strongest shinobi is gone." The blond teen restrained a flinch at how Shikaku had addressed him. Minato also made a sour grimace and sent a pointed glare toward his jounin commander, but he either didn't notice it, or simply ignored it completely.
"The timing is awful. Konoha and Minato can't show weakness in this period or the consequences could be disastrous. The rumors have been covering only half of the truth, that you have killed Orochimaru, but they don't know what he's done. There are three options we have. One, we either pretend to lock you up until the exam is over, but still deny everything..." Shikaku paused and glanced toward the stoically standing teen. "Or we could leave everything as it is now as option two. You will either be shunned from the village or you will soon leave by yourself. Nobody can endure that kind of treatment for long. Not even the strongest shinobi were able to endure that kind of air around them. Even the White Fang had broken under the pressure." Naruto made a sour grimace and shook his head before he spoke.
"And the third option?"
"We stop the information blackout and unveil everything about the case. All of them have dangerous consequences for you." Shikaku observed the calm chuunin in front of him for a long and silent moment, then continued.
"If we lock you up or tell them nothing, the viewpoint of the citizens of Konoha won't change, however you will be safer out the Village gates without an official announcement. Both are just temporary solutions." Shikaku straightened himself and stepped in front of the young chuunin and looked straight into Naruto's eyes.
"In case option number three: we unveil everything, the gossip will be stopped, your reputation in the village will be repaired. However, the other countries will be aware of your existence. About your potential as a future threat toward them and your connection with Minato. You will be in every single bingo book. Bounty hunters and assassins will be on your heels every time you step out from the village. Your life will be in continuous danger."
Naruto stared at the commander for a long silent minute before he finally opened his mouth. "And your decision is?"
"The decision is in your hands. Its your life." Minato stated calmly. Naruto made a quick glance to his father before he looked back at his friend's father.
"Which is the best for Konoha?"
"All options will show that Konoha's security is weak, letting Orochimaru to act that long in the shadows unperturbed, however with the third option, unveiling your power will give the reputation of a new powerful shinobi to Konoha, balancing it again. With the cost of your security and maybe your life."
"I choose the third option." Naruto answered without hesitation, making Minato send a sour smile toward the stunned jounin commander, who after a minute of observation smiled at Naruto.
"I see now what Minato and Jiraiya see in you. The will of fire burns inside you, brighter than in most of us. I would be honored if I got a jounin in my lines like you." Naruto raised a confused eyebrow.
"What do you mean by that?"
The jounin commander snorted and shook his head. "And you can be as clueless as they said."
"Hey!" Naruto yelled angrily and folded his arms in a sulking manner across his chest and a pout immediately appeared on his lips, but Minato's soft voice made him glance toward his father.
"The official announcement should be done at the finals. Most of the village will be there. That is the best opportunity to clear your name. But If we do it there, all of the elemental nations will know about our relationship. The moment the announcement is made, your life will be in danger. You do realize what you have chosen don't you?"
The blond chuunin glanced toward his father with a determined expression. "Of course I do. I can handle one or two assassins or filthy bounty hunters." Then his determination turned into a cheeky grin. "Besides, I'm a super awesome shinobi aren't I? One day, I'll even kick your ass Minato."
Naruto paused for a second. His face became distant. Experienced fingers brushed against the fine insignia of Konoha on his forehead and in the next second his eyes sparkled with a new determination. "You should look out for that fancy hat of yours. Because one day, I'll have that seat of yours as Hokage."
The named village leader chuckled and shook his head, while the Nara clan head observed the whole situation with calculating eyes in the background.
Finally Minato's chuckle died down. "Sure, sure. Maybe one day you will be ready for my hat. But for now, you have to bear the situation a little bit longer. It will be over soon. I promise." The blond teen nodded to Minato and in ten minutes the young chuunin was gone after one last glance toward his father. The Nara head let out a loud hum as the gears turned in his mind.
"I was serious. Your brother is strong, and he definitely has the will of fire in him. And I also read the latest reports about his missions. He is a leader type. You should think about his promotion to jounin." A proud smile appeared on Minato's face.
"Yeah. I know. He's ready for that title. And maybe a little later, he will be ready for another title if I'm going to retire." Shikaku raised an eyebrow.
"You just received your own title as Hokage and you are already looking for a successor?"
A sour smile spread across Minato's features. "Being Hokage is a dangerous job. You have to be prepared for anything."
"It seems sometimes you just forget that he joined this village a little more than seven months ago. With quite suspicious conditions, and you are thinking about nominating him as your successor in the future? Have you gone nuts?"
The leader slowly walked to the windows, folded his arms behind his back and looked down at the village before he answered. "I can state that you are the smartest man in this village Shikaku. You have read all the files about him. Tell me, what do you think about his case?"
The named man stayed in silence for a long minute, gathering his thoughts. "If I stick only to the facts in the report, I would say that he isn't a spy, a sleeping agent or an assassin. By the reports, his personality and his previous acts aren't fitting to any of the profiles of the previous cases. But..." The Nara narrowed his eyes. "...But based on the reports, he shouldn't be able to take down Orochimaru. He was either holding back the whole time, or he really got a lucky hit. Theoretically even one genin could kill a Kage if he got a lucky shot."
"Do you think he got a lucky shot?"
"No. And this could point toward that he is indeed a powerful and seasoned soldier. A Kage level shinobi who could kill a Sannin. Maybe even you Minato. But if the report Jiraiya made was accurate, and I'm sure it was, then Orochimaru was his first kill. All of the symptoms he showed during these three weeks point toward that. But why should he hide so much power?" The Nara shook his head and frowned. "I just don't know. Everything about him and his case is just damn confusing. Even for me." A victorious half smile appeared on Minato's face as he turned toward his friend and advisor.
"Then why did you tell me that we should promote him to jounin?" The clan head opened his mouth to respond, but he closed it after one hesitant second as he found himself unable to find any logical answer. The smile grew bigger on the village leader's features.
"It's illogical isn't it? You can't explain why, but when you are with him, you can feel it can't you? There is no logical explanations for that. It's coming from deep within your soul. The feeling that you can trust in him. That you can put your life into his hands and you will be safe. When you're with him, you want to walk by his side. That is my answer." The clan head observed his leader for a long silent minute, then sent back an equally soft smile and stepped next to him to look down on the village at their feet.
"Your brother's going to be a very important ninja."
"Yes. Someone who will surpass all the previous Kage."
Author's Note:
Well, it was quite a busy chapter. A lot of things happened, a lot of creepy theories made up by Minato and Jiraiya about Naruto's appearance. So, did the Kyuubi inside Kushina listen to them? You will soon know. ;)
Uchiha Shisui was a Root member. I'm adamant in my opinion. Why? First. How he had activated the mangekyou. For that, he had to kill his best friend. In Root how did they kill all emotions from their soldiers? By forcing them to kill their best friend. Plus if you check it, he and Danzou have the same beliefs. That a real shinobi must sacrifice themselves from the shadows. (Manga: chap. 550 10th page and 476 17th page)
The progress of all upcoming chapters will be always updated on my profile. So if you're interested in the progress of the next chapters click to my name. :)
Story recommendations:
In Desperate Times by krystalanimeheart
The war is still raging, Naruto along with Killer Bee are both on the battle field battling against Obito. But when something goes wrong, and Naruto is absorbed by the Gedo Mazo, in Naruto's last attempt he uses the Forbidden: Space-Time Jutsu. But what will happen if he also sends Sasuke along with himself 18 years into the past? /Obvious time travel where Minato and Kushina are still alive :D /